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Meet Scheller's Incoming Evening MBA Class

Meet three incoming Georgia Tech Scheller Evening MBA students. Megan Hinson, Benton Poore, and Stephen Spake talk about how they made the decision to come to Scheller and the influences that continue to motivate them to reach higher in their careers.
Incoming Evening MBA students Benton Poore, Megan Hinson, and Stephen Spake

Incoming Evening MBA students Benton Poore, Megan Hinson, and Stephen Spake

School is back in session for a newly arrived cohort of Georgia Tech Scheller Evening MBAs. It’s the start of a life-changing journey. Good things lie ahead for this diverse, industry-spanning group of students. There will be new instructors, knowledge, and friends along the way. And most importantly, the skills needed to do the things they’ve dreamed of for so long.   
 
Meet three incoming Evening MBA students with backgrounds as unique as their reasons for coming back to school. There is an audiologist listening to her own inner drive, a supply chain analyst working to make his grandfather proud, and a former Army combat medic who wants to improve access to medical care for people who need it most. 

Megan HinsonMegan Hinson 
Hometown: I'm proud to be from Memphis, Tennessee!  
Current Role: I am an audiologist (meaning a doctor of hearing and balance) working on a VA contract full-time and working with children part-time. I currently help veterans obtain benefits for compensable service-related disabilities, but my expertise is in working with children with hearing impairment and developmental differences.  
 
What (and/or who) brought you to study at Scheller? 
I am seeking a career transition out of healthcare and into a business-focused role that better aligns with my professional and personal goals. Because audiology has been my focus for the better part of a decade, it is daunting to make a huge transition and to not have a clear plan for what I might want to pursue professionally.  
 
Friends who have experience in the Evening and Full-time MBA programs, as well as the support and encouragement from Elizabeth Jones and Paula Wilson who shared other success stories from students who navigated similar transitions, were influential in my decision. Imagining what a major career change will be like is nearly impossible for me, but it hasn't been impossible for people who know the program and have seen the success stories.  
 
Having already completed a doctorate, I had high expectations for what another graduate program would need to offer in order for me to commit to further schooling. Factors that gave me confidence in choosing Scheller include the school prioritizing all of its programs (regardless of whether students choose to attend the Full-time or Evening MBA program), the nationally -acclaimed career services department, the expertise of faculty, the strength of networking and alumni relations, and the career-strengthening opportunities local to the Metro Atlanta area and Tech Square specifically.  
 
I'm proud of the decision I've made to move forward with Scheller, and I'm excited to get started!  
 
What are you doing now to prepare for the new school year?  
​I've done all of the recommended orientation prep and have looked over the trainings that have been recommended. But mostly, I've focused this summer on getting into a healthy headspace prior to starting school, traveling and relaxing while I still can do so freely, thinking on options I may want to pursue, and pushing myself to imagine what it means to dream bigger than I have before. 
 
What do you want your future classmates to know about you? 
I'm genuinely happy to be here, and I'm excited to meet so many new people. My professional experience doesn't necessarily pertain to the things we'll be doing and learning as much as most students’ experience will, so please give me grace when my learning is fresh, or if I can't think of a pertinent example in a discussion.  
 
Though my background is different, I'll be a dependable team member and contributor and am grateful for the opportunity to learn from you all. I'm also really excited for the social aspect of the program and to do fun things in the city together over the next few years and beyond. 

 

Benton Poore

Benton Poore  
Hometown: Marietta, Georgia 
Current Role: Senior Supply Chain Analyst at HD Supply 
 
What (and/or who) brought you to study at Scheller? 
The Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business encapsulates a top-tier technology school with impressive research accolades and industry-implemented tech innovation for the past 100 years. Atlanta is home to more than 15 Fortune 500 companies and thriving startups blossoming all around the city in industries ranging from biotech to automated warehousing solutions.  
 
My mission is to take the knowledge that I will obtain from my MBA to one of those companies or create a new company to accomplish what Scheller MBA graduates do – innovate and lead! Lastly, one of the main reasons I sought to earn my MBA at Georgia Tech is because of the robust and diverse community that is built by like-minded and intellectually driven individuals.  
 
Through mentors and family members, I have witnessed the community that continues to promote the Tech spirit today. My grandfather, Aubrey Poore, who is a Georgia Tech graduate, has continually inspired me to continue pursuing education. He was a first-generation scholar and eventually went on to start his own thriving company. The education he received from Georgia Tech opened several doors for him to leave a positive impact on the world.  
 
Overall, I wanted to earn an MBA at Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business so that I could broaden my personal and professional influence, develop knowledge of technology, cultivate community, and maximize my capabilities to leave a lasting impact on Atlanta while also making my grandfather proud. 
 
What are you doing now to prepare for the new school year?  
I am preparing for the new school year by trying to retain and engrain fitness routines by going on runs every morning while also enjoying reading business and self-improvement books. 
 
What do you want your future classmates to know about you? 
First, teamwork is what motivates me.  
 
Second, if I had one day to do anything I wanted, I’d venture out into the wilderness with minimalist tools to harness my survival skills and experience nature.  
 
Third, my favorite animal cannot be found in a zoo, but would more commonly be discovered in a trash can. My favorite animal is a raccoon. 

 

Stephen Spake

Stephen Spake 
Hometown: Orange City, Florida 
Current Role: Business Advisory Specialist at Accenture LLP and Combat Medict in the U.S. Army 
 
What (and/or who) brought you to study at Scheller? 
I'm attending Georgia Tech for my second master’s degree. My first is a master’s of healthcare administration. I finished that while on active duty in the Army.  
 
I feel that the progress in medical technology is incredibly rapid, but our ability to provide it to those in need at an affordable and practical rate, is not. My reasoning behind pursuing a degree in business is to make an effort towards narrowing that gap between care advancement and care accessibility, to make the world just a little bit better.  
 
The reason I chose Scheller is its ranking within the MBA community and its proximity to where I live. I was born and raised in a very small rural town, and had never lived in a large city before. After meeting, dating and marrying my now wife, I learned to really enjoy and appreciate aspects of Atlanta, and the respect that a degree from Georgia Tech holds is something that drew me towards applying. My father-in-law, brother-in-law, and two sisters-in-law are all Tech grads. And there's a Waffle House in Tech Square. It was a sign.  
 
What are you doing now to prepare for the new school year?  
I honestly haven't changed anything in regards to lifestyle to prepare for school. I've always enjoyed learning, and earned an A.S., B.S., and MHA while on Active Duty, working through training events and deployments, so while this program will likely be one of the more strenuous ones I have attempted, working full-time and going to school full-time in the evening doesn't seem too bad.  
 
What do you want your future classmates to know about you? 
I would like my new classmates to know that I am a pretty open book and very Type 1 when it comes to work and school. I am far more approachable than my face may occasionally suggest. 

View the full Fall Evening MBA class profile. 

 

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